Chapter 63 - The Matriarch's Ledger
The rain hammered against the reinforced glass of the holding facility in Norfolk, turning the city lights into streaks of bleeding neon. Evelyn sat at the edge of the cot in an oversized gray jumpsuit, looking smaller, more withered than I had ever seen her. The cold arrogance that had defined her entire life—the venomous pride that allowed her to hand out vacation tickets to strangers while leaving my daughter to weep in the hallway—had completely shattered.
When the heavy steel door clicked open and I stepped through, followed by Marcus displaying his revoked yet convincingly forged credentials, her eyes widened in terror.
"David?" she whispered, clutching her throat. "What are you doing here? Did... did Victor find you?"
"He didn't find me, Mother," I said, my voice dangerously level. "He took Emma."
A sharp, ragged gasp tore from her throat. She pressed her palms against her temples, rocking back and forth on the edge of the cot. "No. No, no, no. He wasn't supposed to touch the child. He swore to me—decades ago, he swore the bloodline would be spared if I—"
"Shut up," I commanded, stepping forward until I towered over her. "Save the lies for your maker. Harlan has her on the *Vanguard*. He gave me until sunrise to bring you to him. If I don't, Emma goes into forty fathoms of black water."
Evelyn looked up at me, her face pale as parchment, tears carving tracks through the makeup she hadn't washed away. "He'll kill me, David. You don't know what he does to people who cross him. If you take me out there, I won't survive the night."
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I leaned down until my face was inches from hers, my eyes cold and pitiless. "You stole Emma's childhood out of spite. You handed our family over to wolves because you couldn't stand being second-best. If one person doesn't make it off that boat alive tonight, Evelyn... make no mistake. It won't be my daughter."
She stared at me, seeing in my face a total absence of mercy. With trembling hands, she stood up, smoothed down the front of her jumpsuit, and followed me into the dark corridor.
